In our 101 Reasons to Love the Cotswolds collection, The Fabulous Baker Brothers stands out as a reminder that the area is about much more than pretty views.
Read on for the details, from Fabulous Baker Brothers Tom and Henry Herbert, The Fabulous Baker Brothers Cotswold-based and Henry to the reasons this place or story continues to add to the charm and character of the Cotswolds.
Cotswold-based brothers Tom (the baker) and Henry (the butcher) Herbert are the new faces of British cookery and are continuing to win legions of television fans at home and abroad.
The Herbert brothers came to prominence through two books and their hit Channel 4 series The Fabulous Baker Brothers, a show that also won them the chance to make a two-part food and travelogue show in the US.
Their family business, Hobbs House Bakery, has shops in four towns in the south of the Cotswolds – at Cirencester, Tetbury, Nailsworth and Chipping Sodbury.
Younger brother Henry heads up all of the shops while Tom is in charge of the main bakery.
They are also involved in the running the Hobbs House School in Chipping Sodbury that was once the Herbert family home.
Tom and Henry are fifth generation bakers as their family has been baking in the Cotswolds since the 1920s.
Tom, who is 37, is 10 years older than Henry, but the brothers were both born with flour on their fingers. Fresh out of baking college, Tom won Young Baker of the Year with an ambition “to do for bread what Rick Stein has done for fish”.
This put Tom on the map as a passionate expert and his slow rise to prominence started with a BBC4 programme called In Search of the Perfect Loaf. Meanwhile, Henry was gaining fame as a chef and made his first television appearance on Great British Menu.
Following their two separate TV appearances, the two were put together as brothers and the Fabulous Baker Brothers were born.
When they are in their bakery the brothers are enthusing others with their passions for handmade bread, people and good food.
Nowadays, they are often on the road, be it filming, teaching or sharing with others at food festivals across the country.
With an ingrained passion for baking, cooking and sharing, they work every day to ensure there is a future for real bread made by real bakers.
More information
For information on the Hobbs House cookery school, visit www.hobbshousebakery.co.uk/school
The Fabulous Baker Brothers are in the process of launching a new website at www.thefabulousbakerbrothers.co.uk